JPH0576594U - Liquid purification cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] The present invention provides a liquid purification apparatus in which a liquid always passes through three components in the order of a filtration element, a liquid purification section, and a filtration element, and has a shorter overall length and a reduced volume of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid purification cartridge having a structure that is space-saving and that can be obtained. [Structure] In the liquid purification cartridge of the present invention, a first filtration element using a porous filter material and a liquid purification section are arranged in series, and porous filtration is performed inside the first filtration element and the liquid purification section. A second filtration element using a material is installed, the first filtration element, the liquid purification unit, the second filtration element in this order or the second filtration element, the liquid purification unit, the first The liquid flow path is configured so that the liquid flows in the order of the filtering element.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a liquid purification cartridge comprising a filter element using a porous filter medium for removing suspended substances such as fine particles in various liquids, and a liquid purification unit for removing various dissolved substances in liquids. In particular, the present invention relates to a liquid purification cartridge which can be preferably used for purifying drinking water such as tap water using a hollow fiber filtration membrane as a porous filtration material.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a filtration separation method using a porous filtration material has been widely used to remove fine particles contained in a liquid and suspended substances such as microorganisms. In particular, microfiltration using a filtration membrane has come to be widely applied to various uses because excellent filtration membranes have been produced due to the progress of polymer chemistry in recent years.

Among the filtration membranes, the hollow fiber filtration membrane has a macaroni-like shape different from that of a flat plate-shaped filtration membrane, and since the filtration membrane itself has a shape that supports its own structure, It does not require a complicated membrane support and can simplify the structure of the filter element, and has the freedom to easily configure various shaped elements. In addition, it has the excellent property that the filtration area per unit volume of the filtration element can be increased as compared with the case of using the flat plate-shaped filtration membrane.

As seen in the increase in pollution of tap water sources due to the progress of urbanization in recent years, the generation of offensive odors and offensive odors and the generation of chlorine compounds such as trihalomethane due to chlorination, the water quality of waterways has been remarkably reduced in recent years. It's becoming a problem. In addition, if pollution of the elevated tank storage is added due to the increase in the number of apartments, it must be said that there is a very serious problem for the water quality and safety of the water supply. Due to the increasing pollution of tap water, households, etc. have installed a cleaning device individually at the tap to improve the quality of tap water as drinking water. Suspended substances such as chlorine, chlorine and trihalomethane and dissolved substances are being removed. These purifiers have various structures, but those equipped with a porous filter medium and a liquid purifier that removes dissolved substances in water, such as activated carbon, ceramics, and various natural minerals in the hollow fiber filter membrane described above. A combination of various purifying materials such as ion exchange resin and so on is widely used.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Purification devices using hollow fiber filtration membranes that are currently on the market place a hollow fiber filtration membrane after a purification material that removes chlorine and dissolved substances. This arrangement not only prevents the removal of fine particles in tap water and the outflow of the purification material itself, but also prevents the outflow of microorganisms that are likely to grow in the purification material portion where chlorine etc. are removed. To do so.

However, such an arrangement can prevent the outflow of microorganisms themselves, but cannot prevent the outflow of microorganism-derived eluates, odors, and the like. In addition, the performance of the purification material deteriorates rapidly due to the growth of microorganisms attached to the surface of the purification material in the purification material portion and the adhesion and accumulation of fine particles and colloidal substances contained in tap water on the purification material. There is a problem such as.

As a means for solving such a problem, the present inventors have found that it is effective to install a mechanism for preventing invasion of microorganisms before and after a liquid purification section using a purification material. Thus, a filtration device as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-228410 was obtained. As a mechanism to prevent invasion in this device, it is extremely effective to use a filtration element with micropores that do not allow the passage of microorganisms, especially a filtration element using a hollow fiber filtration membrane, because a smaller purification device can be configured. It was something.

However, a filter element using a hollow fiber filtration membrane is generally formed in a column shape elongated in the length direction of the hollow fiber filtration membrane. This is because the filter element using the hollow fiber filtration membrane is configured by adhering and fixing the end of the hollow fiber filtration membrane with resin or the like so as to have the opening of the hollow fiber filtration membrane, so that the effective membrane area is the same. In order to obtain a hollow fiber filtration membrane, it is inevitable to increase the number of hollow fibers in order to produce a hollow fiber filtration membrane that is short in the length direction. This is because the ratio of the length of the resin fixing part becomes large and the waste becomes large. In order to effectively use the hollow fiber filtration membrane, it is necessary to set up a structure that uses the hollow fiber filtration membrane for a long time.

Therefore, in order to effectively use the hollow fiber filtration membrane, a filtration element having a long structure is produced, and by using this method, the filtration elements and the liquid purification section are simply overlapped with each other. If a purification device with a structure in which filtration elements are installed in front and back is set, the total length of the device becomes long, and there is a problem that the installation location is limited. For example, there was a problem that they would not enter even if they tried to install it under the sink or on the shelf in front of the sink.

The present invention solves the above problems and uses a porous filter medium, in particular, a hollow fiber filter membrane, to obtain a liquid purification device having a shorter overall length and a reduced volume of the device. The purpose is to provide a cartridge.

[0011]

[Means for Solving Problems]

 As described above, the structure of the liquid purifying cartridge in which the liquid always passes through the three constituent elements in the order of the filtering element, the liquid purifying section, and the filtering element, and the overall height is low and the space is not wasted Have been able to complete the present invention through various trial manufactures and studies. That is, in the liquid purification cartridge of the present invention, a first filtration element using a porous filter material and a liquid purification section are arranged in series, and a porous filter is provided inside the first filtration element and the liquid purification section. A second filtration element using a filtering material is installed, and the first filtration element, the liquid purification section, and the second filtration element are arranged in this order, or the second filtration element and the liquid purification section. The liquid flow path is configured so that the liquid flows in the order of the first filter element. By doing so, the height of the cartridge for liquid purification can be reduced by installing filtering elements before and after the liquid purification unit to prevent deterioration of purification performance due to microbial contamination of the liquid purification unit and accumulation of fine particles. In addition, it is possible to obtain a smaller cartridge with a small total volume.

[0012]

[Action]

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a liquid purification cartridge of the present invention, in which a filtration element using a hollow fiber filtration membrane and granular activated carbon are used in a liquid purification section. The first filter element 1 is formed by arranging hollow fiber filtration membranes 2a in an annular shape and fixing the ends thereof with a fixing member 3a, so that the overall shape is cylindrical. The fixing member 3a is further liquid-tightly fixed to the cylindrical structure 4 installed outside the first filter element 1 and the partition structure 5b installed inside. An opening of the hollow fiber filtration membrane 2a is formed in the fixing member 3a of the first filtration element 1, and a filtrate outflow portion 6a is formed.

The partition structure 5a is liquid-tightly connected to the cylindrical structure 4, and the partition structure 5b and the partition structure 5c are also liquid-tightly connected. A liquid purification unit 8 filled with activated carbon 7 is configured between the partition structure 5a and the partition structure 5c, and this liquid purification unit 8 has a cylindrical structure similar to that of the first filtration element 1. ing. A cylindrical first filter element 1 and a second filter element 9 using a hollow fiber filter membrane 2b are installed at the center of the liquid purification section 8.

The end of the hollow fiber filtration membrane 2b of the second filtration element 9 is fixed by a fixing member 3b, and the opening of the hollow fiber filtration membrane 2b is formed in the fixing member 3b, so that the second filtration element 9 A filtrate outflow portion 6b is formed. The second filter element 9 and the partition wall structure value body 5a are fixed in a liquid-tight manner to form a communication channel 12.

The undiluted solution 10 is filtered from the outside of the hollow fiber filtration membrane 2a of the first filtration element 1 and flows out from the filtrate outflow portion 6a as a primary filtrate 11 from which fine particles and the like have been removed. Next, the primary filtrate 11 is introduced into the liquid purification section 8 and, while flowing through this, various components dissolved by the activated carbon 7 are removed. Next, it passes through the communication channel 12, is filtered by the second filter element 9, and flows out from the filtrate outflow portion 6b as the final purified liquid 13 to the outside.

It is also possible to set the outflow direction of the final purification liquid 13 with respect to the stock solution 10 to be opposite. FIG. 2 shows another example of the liquid purification cartridge of the present invention in which the filtrate outflow portion 6b of the second filtration element 9 is installed in the direction opposite to that of FIG. In 9, the filtrate outlet 6b is liquid-tightly fixed to the partition structure 5b. The introduced undiluted solution 10 is filtered by the first filtration element 1, and the obtained primary filtrate 11 passes through the liquid purification section 8 and is then filtered by the second filtration element 9 to obtain the final purification solution 13 as the filtrate outflow section. It flows out from 6b.

As described above, in the present invention, one filter element, the liquid purification section, and the other filter element are arranged substantially in series with respect to the flow of liquid, but the actual structure is The filter element and the second filter element are arranged in parallel. Furthermore, instead of the usual conceivable configuration in which each filter element and the liquid purification unit are individually arranged and the channels are connected to each other, as described above, the inside of the first filter element and the liquid purification unit is not used. That is, the second filter element is incorporated in a nested form. By doing so, the length of the hollow fiber filtration membrane of the filtration element can be set long, the membrane can be effectively used, and the height of the entire liquid purification cartridge can be reduced. In addition, there is no wasted space in the structure, and the total volume can be reduced.

It is desirable that the filtrate outflow portion of each filter element is installed facing the downstream side with respect to the liquid flow. This is because if the flow-out portion of the filtrate is on the upstream side, accumulation of fine particles will block the opening of the hollow fiber filtration membrane provided there, increasing the risk that the membrane will not be used effectively.

1 and 2, the liquid flows in the order of the first filter element 1, the liquid purifier 8, and the second filter element 9, but the reverse structure is also possible. That is, a stock solution inlet is provided on the side of the second filter element so that the liquid flows in the order of the second filter element, the liquid purification section, and the first filter element. Also in this case, it is desirable that the filtrate outflow portion is installed facing the downstream side with respect to the liquid flow.

Further, although the first filtering element 1 is integrally formed between the cylindrical structure 4 and the partition structure 3b so as to have a cylindrical shape, it is different from the second filtering element. A large number of filtration elements each having a columnar shape are prepared in advance, and a plurality of the filtration elements are annularly arranged between the cylindrical structure 4 and the partition wall structure 3b and liquid-tightly fixed. It is also possible to exert the function of. In this case, the area as the first filter element can be easily changed by changing the number of the filter elements, and the liquid purification cartridge corresponding to the usage situation can be easily manufactured.

Forming a fixing member on the end surface of various porous filter media including the hollow fiber filtration membrane, and fixing the filter element via this fixing member means connecting and fixing the shape of the formed fixing member. It is possible to implement a shape that is suitable for the part (in this case, the cylindrical structure or the wall shape of each partition wall structure) that is not significantly affected by the type or shape of the porous filter material used. This is preferable in that the shape of the filter element can be freely set.

The size of the fine pores of the porous filter medium used in the present invention more reliably and effectively embodies the purpose of preventing microbial contamination of the purification device for purifying drinking water such as tap water. In particular, it is preferable that the substantial pore size is 0.45 μm or less, which is considered to prevent the passage of general microorganisms. However, when applied to the filtration of liquids that do not cause problems related to microbial contamination, for example, when fine particles or impurities in a solution such as alcohol are removed by filtration and adsorption, the desired fine particles to be removed A micropore having a size corresponding to the size can be appropriately used.

As the liquid purifying section, those having various principles and functions can be used depending on the purifying purpose, but in particular, a purifying material having adsorption and decomposition functions for various dissolved substances in the stock solution, for example, various natural minerals. In addition, ceramics, activated carbon, ion exchange resin and the like are preferable. Further, as the shape of these purifying materials, various ones such as granular or fibrous may be used depending on the use conditions and the required liquid purifying cartridge structure. As the granular material, those having a size of ASTM 140 mesh or more, and particularly having a particle size in the range of about 30 to 100 mesh can be preferably used. If it becomes fine particles (powder) with a size of 140 mesh or less, the surface area of the purification material increases, so the purification performance per unit weight generally increases, but the resistance to liquid passage increases and the conditions of use and liquid purification part There is a drawback that there are many limiting factors for the flow channel shape.

When activated carbon is used as the purification material, fibrous ones can be used more preferably. The fibrous activated carbon has the advantage that the surface area per unit weight is larger than that of the granular material and the liquid passage resistance is extremely small, and the structure of the liquid purification cartridge can be made smaller.

[0025]

【Example】

 Embodiment 1 FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which a purifying device for purifying tap water is constructed by using the liquid purifying cartridge of the present invention, which has the basic constitution shown in FIG. 1 using a hollow fiber filtration membrane. The liquid purification cartridge is installed in a housing 27 composed of a base 25 and a cover 26. The base 25 and the cover 26 are liquid-tightly fixed by a stopper 29 via an O-ring 28.

The liquid purification cartridge 24 is liquid-tightly and detachably connected to the connecting portion 35 of the base 25 at the filtrate outflow portion 6b of the second filter element 9 by the O-ring 31. The tap water 37 is introduced into the housing 27 through the tap water inlet 30 provided in the base 25, and rises as a flow path between the cover 26 and the partition wall structure 5a and the cylindrical structure 4 for the first filtration. Reach element 1. After being filtered by the first filter element 1, it passes through the purification mechanism 8 to reach the second filter element 9, and the final purified liquid 13 filtered by the second filter element 9 passes through the flow path 36. And flows out of the housing 27.

In this example, a polypropylene hollow fiber filtration membrane having an outer diameter of 450 μm and an average pore diameter of 0.2 μm was used, and the filtration area of the first filtration element was 2.5 m 2, and the filtration area of the second filtration element was 2.5 m 2. A filter with a filtration area of 1 m2 and 500 g of granular activated carbon with an average particle size of 60 mesh was prepared. The size of the liquid purification cartridge was 25 cm in height and 14 cm in maximum diameter (volume occupied by the liquid purification cartridge). Was about 3.8 liters). The height of the entire purification system including the housing was 30 cm, which was large enough to be installed under a sink.

On the other hand, as a comparative example, using the same hollow fiber filtration membrane and activated carbon as above with the same area and weight, a liquid purification cartridge having a structure in which the filtration element and the purification portion are simply overlapped and connected was manufactured. The height of the purification equipment used exceeded 60 cm, making it difficult to install it under the sink in the kitchen.

Example 2 A fibrous activated carbon was used as the purification material, and a hollow fiber filtration membrane having the same filtration area as in Example 1 was used to produce a liquid purification cartridge having the structure shown in FIG. As the activated carbon, fibrous activated carbon manufactured by Osaka Gas Co. (A-15: 55 g) was used. In the present embodiment, the volume of the liquid purification section could be reduced, and the maximum diameter of the liquid purification cartridge could be reduced to 14 cm while the height was reduced to 20 cm. (The volume occupied by the liquid purification cartridge is about 3.1 liters)

Further, sodium hypochlorite was added to tap water to prepare water having a residual chlorine concentration of 2 ppm, and a comparison experiment of chlorine removal performance with Example 1 using granular activated carbon was conducted. Although 60 m3 of water was continuously flowed at a water flow rate of 5 liters per minute, both had a chlorine removal rate of 90% or more at this point, and there was no difference in removal performance.

The liquid purification cartridge of the present invention has been described above based on an example in which a hollow fiber filtration membrane is used as the porous filtration material and activated carbon is used in the liquid purification section. As for the above, various application examples can be adopted without departing from the gist thereof.

[0032]

[Effect of the device]

 As explained above, by using the liquid purification cartridge of the present invention, there is no performance deterioration due to contamination of microorganisms in the liquid purification section and accumulation of fine particles in the stock solution, and it is installed under a sink or the like. Thus, it is possible to obtain a liquid purification device having a short total length and a reduced volume.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of a liquid purification cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another example of the liquid purification cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a purifying apparatus using the liquid purifying cartridge of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st filtration element 2a, 2b Hollow fiber filtration membrane 3a, 3b Fixing member 4 Cylindrical structure 5a, 5b, 5c Partition structure 6a, 6b Filtrate outflow part 7 Activated carbon 8 Liquid purification part 9 Second filtration element 10 stock solution 11 primary filtrate 12 communication channel 13 final purification solution 24 liquid purification cartridge 25 base 26 cover 27 housing 28, 31 O-ring 29 stopper 30 tap water inlet 35 connection part 36 channel 37 tap water

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication C02F 1/42 A 9/00 Z 8515-4D

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A first filter element using a porous filter material and a liquid purification section are arranged in series, and a first filter element using a porous filter material is provided inside the first filter element and the liquid purification section. Two filtration elements are installed, and the first filtration element, the liquid purification section, the second filtration element in this order, or the second filtration element, the liquid purification section, the first filtration element. A liquid purification cartridge characterized in that a liquid flow path is configured so that the liquid flows in the order of. 2. The cartridge for fluid purification according to claim 1, wherein the porous filter medium is a hollow fiber filter membrane. 3. The liquid cleaning cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cleaning material such as activated carbon, ion exchange resin, or ceramics is used in the liquid cleaning section. 4. The liquid cleaning cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning material has a fibrous shape.